November 7, 2012
Education Week, Vol. 32, Issue 11
Education Funding
News in Brief
LucasFilm Proceeds To Benefit Education
Following last week's announcement that Lucasfilm Ltd., the company founded by filmmaker George Lucas, will be sold to the Walt Disney Co. for $4.05 billion, Mr. Lucas has expressed his intention to donate the majority of the proceeds of that deal to philanthropic efforts, with a primary emphasis on education.
Education Funding
Letter to the Editor
Schools Pay 'Lip Service' To Arts Education
To the Editor:
Apropos of the News in Brief item "Los Angeles School Board Makes Arts an Essential 'Core' Subject" (Oct. 17, 2012): Let me get this straight (I had to read the number twice, hoping it was a typo)—there are only 204 arts specialists for 664,000 students in Los Angeles? That's more than 3,200 kids per teacher per year!
Apropos of the News in Brief item "Los Angeles School Board Makes Arts an Essential 'Core' Subject" (Oct. 17, 2012): Let me get this straight (I had to read the number twice, hoping it was a typo)—there are only 204 arts specialists for 664,000 students in Los Angeles? That's more than 3,200 kids per teacher per year!
Assessment
Letter to the Editor
Students Should Pass Citizenship Test
To the Editor:
In response to your article "Student Mastery of Civics Ed. Goes Untested" (Oct. 17, 2012): In order to become citizens of the United States, applicants must pass a test. Every 11th grader should be given the test and have the next year to learn what they failed.
In response to your article "Student Mastery of Civics Ed. Goes Untested" (Oct. 17, 2012): In order to become citizens of the United States, applicants must pass a test. Every 11th grader should be given the test and have the next year to learn what they failed.
Professional Development
Opinion
Closing the Teacher-Development Gap
Jack Gillette of Lesley University suggests that higher education should reinvent post-licensure programs to help close the gap in teacher development.
Student Achievement
Opinion
The Importance of Education: An Economics View
The long-term impact of a good education is multifaceted and powerful, Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney write.
Federal
Respite on Ed. Issues Unlikely for Election Winners
Looming budget cuts, ESEA reauthorization, and a Pell Grant shortfall will all confront Congress and the White House.
School Climate & Safety
East Coast Schools Struggle to Reopen
Thousands of schools are doubling as emergency shelters, struggling to reopen, or still assessing damage following the superstorm that slammed the Mid-Atlantic states.
Education Funding
Funders Set New Round of Support for STEM Teachers
After amassing $24 million in its first go-round, a national coalition opens a second "innovation fund" to recruit and train STEM educators.
Standards & Accountability
Scores Drop on Ky.'s Common Core-Aligned Tests
On the new tests, the first in the nation to be explicitly aligned to the common core, students scoring "proficient" or better fell by a third or more.
School Climate & Safety
Sandy's Storm Damage Keeps Schools Closed in N.Y.C., N.J.
Widespread power outages, flooding, and other aftereffects of the storm continue to keep thousands of schools shuttered and millions of students out of classrooms along the mid-Atlantic.
School Climate & Safety
Hurricane Sandy Shutters Thousands of Schools
As the massive storm powers its way up the East Coast this week, millions of students will be missing two—or more—days of school.